Madeleine detective faces charges over attack on suspect

Madeleine detective faces charges over attack on suspect
7 September 2007
Press Association National Newswire
Tim Walsh, PA

Kate McCann's naming as a suspect in her daughter Madeleine's disappearance comes after the detective leading the investigation was charged over an alleged attack on the mother of another missing girl.

Goncalo Amaral, co-ordinator of the Policia Judiciara (PJ) in Portimao, Algarve, is one of five men accused of 'scenes of aggression'' against Leonor Cipriano, whose nine-year-old daughter, Joana, vanished in September 2004.

The little girl's body was never found but Cipriano and her brother, Joao, were charged and convicted of her murder.

She went missing from her home in Figueira, not far from where four-year-old Madeleine was abducted in Praia da Luz on May 3.

It is claimed the attack on Cipriano happened when she was questioned over Joana's apparent abduction.

The Ministerio Publico (MP), or District Attorney, charged three PJ officers in June with torture, a fourth with omission of evidence and a fifth with falsification of documents.

The MP did not reveal who had been charged with what offence.

Mr Amaral was 'very angry'' about the allegations and was considering taking action against the MP, according to a police source.

'He is very professional and has a lot of success in solving cases,'' the source said.

'He is very upset because reporters never speak of these successes.''

A Portuguese newspaper reported claims that the beating took place as Cipriano was questioned without a lawyer.

She lodged a formal complaint about her treatment which was followed up by the MP.

Despite the charges, Mr Amaral, who is in his late 40s, was not suspended from work.

News of the charge came as Mr Amaral was forced to defend his taking a two-hour lunch break.

He was spotted with with PJ spokesman Olegario Sousa at a fish restaurant in Portimao, near Praia da Luz, as the McCanns travelled to Berlin and Amsterdam to appear for more information about their missing daughter.


A diner said he spotted them drinking what looked like white wine and whisky.

Asked if it was acceptable for police to drink alcohol in their lunch time, Mr Sousa said: 'I don't know, it is very, very sad but a person's free time is for lunch. That is normal to do.

'The persons are in charge in the day, they are working in the day but they must eat and drink - it is normal. I drink what I want to drink when I can drink.''

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Carvi Scandal, Gonçalo Amaral

Madeleine detective faces charges over attack on suspect

Madeleine detective faces charges over attack on suspect
7 September 2007
Press Association National Newswire
Tim Walsh

Kate McCann's naming as a suspect in her daughter Madeleine's disappearance comes after the detective leading the investigation was charged over an alleged attack on the mother of another missing girl.

Goncalo Amaral, co-ordinator of the Policia Judiciara (PJ) in Portimao, Algarve, is one of five men accused of 'scenes of aggression'' against Leonor Cipriano, whose nine-year-old daughter, Joana, vanished in September 2004.

The little girl's body was never found but Cipriano and her brother, Joao, were charged and convicted of her murder.

She went missing from her home in Figueira, not far from where four-year-old Madeleine was abducted in Praia da Luz on May 3.

It is claimed the attack on Cipriano happened when she was questioned over Joana's apparent abduction.

The Ministerio Publico (MP), or District Attorney, charged three PJ officers in June with torture, a fourth with omission of evidence and a fifth with falsification of documents.

The MP did not reveal who had been charged with what offence.

Mr Amaral was 'very angry'' about the allegations and was considering taking action against the MP, according to a police source.

'He is very professional and has a lot of success in solving cases,'' the source said.

'He is very upset because reporters never speak of these successes.''

A Portuguese newspaper reported claims that the beating took place as Cipriano was questioned without a lawyer. She lodged a formal complaint about her treatment which was followed up by the MP. Despite the charges, Mr Amaral, who is in his late 40s, was not suspended from work.

News of the charge came as Mr Amaral was forced to defend his taking a two-hour lunch break.

He was spotted with with PJ spokesman Olegario Sousa at a fish restaurant in Portimao, near Praia da Luz, as the McCanns travelled to Berlin and Amsterdam to appear for more information about their missing daughter.

A diner said he spotted them drinking what looked like white wine and whisky.

Asked if it was acceptable for police to drink alcohol in their lunch time, Mr Sousa said: 'I don't know, it is very, very sad but a person's free time is for lunch. That is normal to do.

'The persons are in charge in the day, they are working in the day but they must eat and drink - it is normal. I drink what I want to drink when I can drink.''

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Carvi Scandal, Gonçalo Amaral, Madeleine McCann

Puzzles and mysteries at the very heart of the investigation

Puzzles and mysteries at the very heart of the investigation
Madeleine the questions

10 September 2007
The Times
David Brown

The McCanns 'refused to answer 40 key questions' during a police interview after being made official suspects, it was reported yesterday.

Here David Brown looks at some of the crucial riddles of the past four months

What happened in the four hours before Madeleine was reported missing?

Kate and Gerry McCann claim that while they dined at a restaurant with friends regular checks were made on Madeleine and their two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie, at their nearby holiday apartment. Mr McCann told police he saw his daughter asleep at about 9pm. A friend, Matthew Oldfield, entered the apartment at about 9.30pm but did not look in the bedroom Madeleine and the twins were sharing.

It is not known if anyone apart from Mr and Mrs McCann saw Madeleine alive between 6pm and 10pm, when she was reported missing by her mother. The timing is crucial but would be only circumstantial evidence in any prosecution. Although a small child could be killed quickly it would take time to hide a body so that it was not discovered in the biggest search in Portuguese history.

Why did Kate McCann cry out "They've taken her?" when she discovered Madeleine missing?

Portuguese police are reported to find it suspicious that Mrs McCann immediately believed that more than one person had taken her daughter. This could suggest that she knew who had taken Madeleine, perhaps people who thought they were helping Mrs McCann by removing her daughter's body.

Alternatively, it could be an off-the-cuff remark by an hysterical mother or perhaps was misheard or misunderstood in the confusion of the night.

What were the movements of the McCann's friends on the night Madeleine disappeared?

The McCann family had stayed at the Ocean Club resort with three other British couples and their five children, and a single woman. Russell O'Brien, a doctor from Exeter, left the restaurant for half an hour to look after his own daughter, returning shortly before Madeleine was reported missing.

His wife, Jane Tanner, was the only witness to report a man carrying away child from the McCann's apartments. There is confusion about when members of the party arrived at the tapas restaurant and left to check on their own sleeping children.

How much alcohol did the McCanns and their friends drink on the evening Madeleine disappeared?

Kate and Gerry McCann and their friends are reported to have told detectives they shared four bottles of wine, with another two barely touched before Madeleine was discovered missing.

However, it is claimed detectives have recovered a bill showing they downed eight bottles of red wine and six white during the afternoon and evening.

Why was Madeleine's bedroom window and shutter open?

Kate and Gerry McCann told police that the window shutter in Madeleine's bedroom, which could not been seen from the restaurant, had been forced open.

Police tests showed the heavy metal shutter had not been forced up from the outside, so must have been pulled open from inside the room. Assuming that the abductor entered through the apartment's unlocked patio windows, why would he or she not leave by the same way or the use the front door?

Or was the window opened to make it appear as if an intruder had used it to enter the bedroom?

Why did Madeleine's sister and brother sleep through her "abduction"?

Sean and Amelie were heavy sleepers who were not disturbed by their sister's abduction, claim their parents. However, they also slept through their mother's hysterical response to Madeleine's disappearance and the presence of dozens of people who joined the search before being carried out by a female police officer.

Kate and Gerry McCann have strenuously denied sedating their daughter.

Why were the McCanns allowed to leave Portugal if they are suspects?

The Portuguese authorities allowed the McCanns to return to the UK after they agreed to reside only at their home in Rothley and to return for further questioning if necessary.

Portuguese law states that after someone is declared a suspect, police have eight months to conclude the investigation into that individual. If they require further time officers can apply to the courts for a four-month extension.

If the McCanns refused to comply with a request to return to the Algarve for interview, Portuguese police could issue a European Arrest Warrant under which extradition can be carried out within six weeks.

All parties have strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Carvi Scandal, Madeleine McCann

PJ: Processos Vol X British Police Dogs

Processos Vol X
Pages 2604 to 2608
Dated 3 September 2007.

The police work in the course of an investigation is oriented to the inspection of the place where the crime occurred, and to the recovery of clues, trace evidence and information - documentary and spoken [obtained from people].

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Madeleine McCann, Robert Murat

Maddy dad's agony

Maddy dad's agony
The Sunday Mirror
26 August 2007
Lara Gould and Lori Campbell
His pain at coming home

Gerry McCann yesterday told of his heartbreak at having to return home.

Missing Madeleine's father, 39, is to go back to work as a hospital heart specialist in Leicester.

He says he and wife Kate, 38, have to balance their desperate wish to find Madeleine, four, with the needs of their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie. He added: "The difficulty we have is emotionally leaving Portugal as a family of four when we came as a family of five."

Madeleine was snatched from her bed in the resort of Praia da Luz on the Algarve 115 days ago. Speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, Gerry stressed he still believes she is alive, but said the campaign to find his daughter would now be scaled down.

Meanwhile, the McCanns faced more wild accusations in Portuguese papers - with one claiming sniffer dogs had detected the scent of a corpse in their hire car. But a family pal raged: "It's rubbish."

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Lori Campbell, Madeleine McCann, News of the World, Ross Hall

'We're coming home'

'We're coming home'
Exclusive: Hard-up McCanns plan sad return to UK.. but search for Maddy goes on 
The Sunday Mirror
19 August 2007
Lori Campbell in Praia da Luz

Madeleine McCann's parents are preparing to make the heart-wrenching move back to Britain next month.

Kate and Gerry, who are on unpaid leave from their NHS jobs, are finding the financial burden of staying on in Portugal too much to bear. And they desperately want their two-year-old twins to regain some form of stability and routine in England.

A close family friend told the Sunday Mirror: "The lease on their villa runs out in mid- September and they're coming close to setting a date to return home."

Although they are feeling the financial strain the McCanns have refused to dip into the £1million Find Madeleine Fund set up to help pay their living expenses while they hunt for their daughter.

They have instead emptied their own life savings to pay for their stay in Portugal and the mortgage and bills on their home in Rothley, Leicestershire.

Only £67,000 of the Find Madeleine Fund has been spent - the McCanns claim expenses only for flights and accommodation on campaign-related trips and for stationery to make posters.

And 108 days after Madeleine was kidnapped from their holiday apartment, the McCanns are now finding the costs of living in Portugal too much.

Gerry is on unpaid leave from his NHS job as heart consultant at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester and Kate, a locum GP, is also not earning a salary.

The couple are now making preparations to return home when the £1,200-a-month rent on their three-bed villa in Praia da Luz runs out next month.

Their campaign manager Justine McGuiness is due to step down at the same time.

But the most pressing reason for the McCanns to return home is their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie. They have always tried to maintain a stable routine for them in Portugal, taking them to the daily creche, Kids' Club and playing with them in the afternoons.

But they feel they now need to return them to the UK.

A close friend of the couple said yesterday: "They have to make sure the twins are protected. That means giving them a stable home life and routine and they can only do that in the UK.

"At home there is a strong support network - with lots of friends and family around to help. They know their home is in Leicestershire."

But Kate has confided in close friends that she cannot face going back to work and wants to become closely involved with charities for missing children.

Their friend said: "She just can't imagine going back to work. She insists that returning to the UK does not mean they are giving up on Madeleine and she wants to work full-time on the campaign.

"She has learnt a lot about missing and exploited children and would like to devote some of her time to working with charities."

Gerry has always argued that it would be easier to run their Find Madeleine campaign from the UK but Kate, 38, has stood firm, saying she feels emotionally close to Madeleine in Portugal.

On Friday the couple broke the news to their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie that their daughter is missing and their mum and dad are "looking for her."

They have still not decided whether to go back to their family home, or sell it because it holds too many memories of Madeleine.

The McCanns' decision to return home comes after Portuguese police chief Alipio Ribeiro said they are working on the "strong hypothesis" she is dead. But he said: "It would be frivolous of me to say we're near the end."

Unconfirmed reports in Portugese newspapers yesterday claimed police are moving in on a new "concrete suspect".

It is claimed "biological traces" were found in a hire car belonging to a man staying at the resort.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Lori Campbell, Madeleine McCann, News of the World, Ross Hall

Maddie parents coming home for twins

Maddie parents coming home for twins
Code Madeleine Campaign
Ross Hall in Praia da Luz
19 August 2007
The News of the World

MUM LEFT IN TORMENT

MISSING tot Madeleine McCann's anguished parents are finally about to make the heartbreaking move home.

With still no clues to the four-year-old's disappearance 108 days ago, Kate and Gerry McCann have decided to return to Britain-for the sake of their two-year old twins.

For more than three months they have stayed in Praia da Luz, the resort where Maddie was snatched from their holiday apartment, driving on the desperate hunt for her.

Dad Gerry has always said it would be easier to run things from the UK. But distraught mum Kate stood firm, saying she felt close to her lost daughter in Portugal. Now friends say the couple are making arrangements to tear themselves away-and return home to Rothley, Leicestershire, next month.

The family are renting a villa close to where Madeleine was taken. But its lease runs out in mid-September.

They have been reluctant to use any of the Pounds 1 million donated to the Find Madeleine fund and have had to use their savings to pay rent and mortgage.

Shattered Kate, 39, has told close pals she fears she will never be able to return to her work as a GP.

And with Gerry on unpaid leave from his post as a heart consultant, they are finding it hard to cope financially. A family friend said last night: "Gerry and Kate are coming to terms with the fact they can't keep twins Sean and Amelie here for ever. It seems like the right time to go.

"They are slowly realising going home doesn't mean they're giving up on Maddie."

Earlier this week Kate said: "We know we'll be going back and I guess one day we'll wake up and it will be right. We never thought we'd go before Madeleine came back."The family's decision comes after Portuguese police admitted they have no idea what happened on the night Maddie disappeared.

Meanwhile, Code Madeleine, our ground-breaking initiative to find children abducted on holiday, continues to win worldwide approval.

The six-point plan ensures rapid action in the vital first hours after a child disappears. It is backed by British travel industry chiefs-and now top timeshare firms have adopted it, too.

FOR more details on Code Madeleine and our Pounds 1.5m reward offer go to notw.co.uk

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Lori Campbell, Madeleine McCann, News of the World, Ross Hall

UK government agency to monitor blogs

15 August 2007
Financial Times
Carlos Grande

The COI, the UK government's communications agency, is working on a way to monitor what people say about policy on blogs and internet forums for the media briefings it sends to ministers. A project by the COI's Media Monitoring Unit is considering how to add blogs to its regular summaries of government coverage in mainstream press or television.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Clarence Mitchell

Madeleine's angry parents tell police: We want answers

Madeleine's angry parents tell police: We want answers
15 August 2007
Daily Express
David Pilditch in Praia da Luz

Kate and Gerry McCann have demanded showdown talks with detectives leading the hunt for their daughter Madeleine.

The distraught couple are angry at the lack of information about how the investigation is progressing.

Their plea comes as senior detectives follow up fresh leads uncovered during a major review of the case by British officers.

Police are said to be moving away from the theory that Madeleine was abducted from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3 – 104 days ago.

It has been reported that detectives now believe the foury ear-old was killed inside the flat – either by accident or murder.

Portuguese police are this week awaiting the results of DNA tests carried out in Britain on specks of blood found inside the McCanns' apartment.

The traces were discovered on a wall in Madeleine's bedroom and on curtains in her parents' room.

But the McCanns fear police will withhold the findings from them and hide behind Portugal's strict secrecy laws. Legislation prevents police discussing details about the ongoing criminal investigation.

A source close to the family said last night: "Since the discovery of the blood the attitude of the police has changed.

"As Madeleine's parents, they have a right to know if that blood is their daughter's or if it belongs to somebody else.

"They were already in an emotional turmoil. That is now being added to by the fear that information about Madeleine is being held back from them.

"They have had enough of all this speculation and rumour.

"They want to speak to detectives as soon as possible to try and establish fact from fiction.

"Like all of us they want to see the investigation moving forward and at the moment that doesn't seem to be the case." Representatives of the couple contacted police on Monday asking for a meeting with senior police officers. But they were told it would not take place until the DNA results were known.

The entire case has now been put on hold while scientists in Birmingham continue their tests.

Consultant cardiologist Gerry and his GP wife, both 39, have been assured they are not suspects but the couple are alarmed at the police's changing attitude towards them.

In his internet blog Gerry wrote yesterday: "We are still optimistic that there will be a breakthrough. In the meantime, however, little has changed for Kate and I.

"We will not give up hope until Madeleine is found and we will not stop searching for her." Kate was reduced to tears last week after the pair had separate meetings with detectives which were said to be more formal than previous briefings.

The McCanns faced fresh torment at the weekend when police stated for the first time publicly that they believed Madeleine was dead.

Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa said in a TV interview: "In the past few days there have been some developments and clues have been found that could point to the possible death of the little child.

"We are waiting for lab results of the evidence collected. All lines of inquiry are open – but these lines are a little bit more interesting." Mr McCann said of the statement: "If the current police activity does uncover new evidence that Madeleine has been seriously harmed, we should be the first to know." The McCanns are desperately clinging on to the hope that Madeleine will be returned safely.

They insist senior detectives have always told them they were searching for a "living child".

But while the family have been kept in the dark, leaks to Portuguese newspapers have fuelled a hateful smear campaign against them.

Continue Reading... Labels: David Pilditch, Express, Forensic Science Services, Leveson Inquiry, Madeleine McCann

Maddie cops: We're looking for body

Maddie cops: We're looking for body
Code Madeline; Exclusive New clues on 100th day of search
Ross Hall in Praia da Luz
12 August 2007
The News of the World

Cuddle Cat was moved
'Running man' spotted
Tot alive when snatched

Police hunting for Madeleine McCann last night admitted she could be dead as the News of the World uncovered a vital new clue that proves a kidnapper WAS in her room.  A hundred days after the four-year-old's disappearance a detective leading the investigation claimed there was now an "intensity" to the possibility that she had been killed.

Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa admitted new searches using British sniffer dogs could point to Madeleine's death. But we can reveal that:

Cuddle cat-the toy Maddie's mum Kate carried yesterday to a church service on the 100-day anniversary of her daughter's disappearance-is a key clue in the hunt.

There was NO "missing hour" in which Madeleine went unchecked as she slept with her twin brother and sister while Kate and dad Gerry ate with friends at a nearby restaurant.

Maddie was NOT killed in the room-despite the presence of blood specks on the walls now being tested.

High

A source close to the investigation last night told us Maddie's toy cat was found HIGH UP in the bedroom-well out of reach of the youngster who went to sleep cuddling it.

Police believe the kidnapper put it there because it would have been used to help identify Madeleine when appeals to find her were launched.

Our source said:

"A lot of people have always asked how Kate was so sure so quickly Madeleine had been snatched.

"It's because when she put her down to sleep her favourite toy was tucked up with her. When Kate found Madeleine missing the next thing she noticed was Cuddle Cat had been put high up out of the way-obviously by an adult."

Unreleased evidence also proves Madeleine was checked REGULARLY during the crucial hour between 9pm and 10pm-and that she was taken in a 'kidnap window' of under 10 minutes when a "RUNNING MAN" was spotted dashing from the apartment.

Dad Gerry checked on the children at 9pm and passed pal Jane Tanner-on her way to check her own children-as he returned to the restaurant. She returned before 9.25pm after seeing a man running with a child. Ten minutes later a male pal at dinner walked up to the McCanns apartment and listened at the door. Believing the children were asleep he returned to the table. It was only 20 minutes before Kate found Maddie gone.

Our source said:

"When we're talking less than 10 minutes to grab a child, without leaving evidence, it is not just chance their parents were out. It proves whoever took her had watched the family for days."

A family friend said Jane Tanner (pictured left) was "devastated" she could have witnessed the abduction and did not stop it. It also emerged police do not think the blood found is Maddie's- because the pattern does not indicate a struggle. Our source said: "Police have concrete evidence she was alive when she was taken."

Yesterday the McCanns-whose continued presence in Portugal was criticised by some locals- were close to tears as they prayed at the anniversary service in a packed church at Praia da Luz.

Kate asked people to support their "journey of hope" for Maddie.
  

Continue Reading... Labels: 2007, Lori Campbell, Madeleine McCann, News of the World, Ross Hall